Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced today that it has refiled a patent infringement lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, based on the substance patent owned by Chugai, regarding the generic drugs of an osteoporosis agent, active vitamin D3 derivative Edirol Capsule 0.5 g / 0.75 g against Sawai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereafter, Sawai), Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereafter, Nichi-Iko) and Nissan Chemical Corporation as per below.
The lawsuit was initially filed on November 27, 2020, but the proceeding was withdrawn for litigation strategic reasons on January 15, 2021.
Date of Complaint
February 17, 2021
Reasons for the Action
On February 17, 2020, Sawai and Nichi-Iko obtained approval from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for their generic drugs of Edirol Capsule, respectively. At this point, only Sawai and Nichi-Iko have launched the generic drug. Nissan Chemical has recently been focusing on the API business of eldecalcitol for the generic drug of Edirol Capsule.
In response to this situation, Chugai filed a patent infringement lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, based on the substance patent owned by Chugai, demanding the suspension of production and use and disposal of the crystalline form, for which Chugai holds the patent, in association with the generic drug, and also demanding damage compensation against Sawai, Nichi-Iko and Nissan Chemical. Concurrently, Chugai filed the petition for provisional disposition order against the above three companies.
In this proceeding, Chugai recognizes that Sawai and Nichi-Iko have outsourced the manufacturing of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to Nissan Chemical, purchased and used the API from Nissan Chemical to manufacture and sell their generic drugs, and at that time the above three companies have been producing and using the crystalline form for which Chugai holds the patent in order to manufacture and sell their generic drugs. Chugai alleges that said action infringes the substance patent (patent number 3429432) owned by Chugai.
Defendants
Name: Sawai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Address: 5-2-30, Miyahara, Yodogawa-ku, Osaka, Japan
Name: Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Address: 1-6-21 Sogawa, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, Japan
Name: Nissan Chemical Corporation
Address: 5-1, Nihonbashi 2-Chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Prospects
No changes are expected to Chugai's financial prospects at this point.
Contact:
Tomoko Shimizu
Tel: +81-3-3273-0881
Email: pr@chugai-pharm.co.jp
CHUGAI PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD 
